Camp confidential: It was a nice 24 hours for the Cardinals, who finished their last practice of training camp Wednesday afternoon after spending Tuesday night at a private screening of Mile 22. Coach Steve Wilks surprised the team with the outing, which he saw as an “opportunity to get together for fellowship, and guys had a good time.” With a relaxing evening under their belts, Wilks still wanted his players to grind out the last day. “Real pleased with the camp that we had this year,” he said. “Thought we really came down here at the end and accomplished a lot.” … Friday’s preseason game against the Saints will give Wilks and his staff more time to evaluate their wide receivers, and some may get more reps. WR Brice Butler is listed as second on the depth chart behind WR Larry Fitzgerald but will likely miss Friday’s game with a foot injury. “Right now, I don’t think Brice is going to be ready to play,” Wilks said. “I was thinking and hoping that we would have an opportunity to go out there, but I think we’re going to hold him back this week.” … Rookie RB Chase Edmonds has looked strong throughout camp, but he’s not letting himself grow complacent. “One thing I want to work on is slowing the game down,” he said. “There were some certain zones where in training camp I was hitting the cut back, but at game speed, I kind of missed some of the cutbacks I would usually hit. So again, I’m just trying to slow the game down and really read everything as it comes fast to me.”

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Arizona Cardinals coach Steve Wilks discusses rookie quarterback Josh Rosen’s first NFL training camp.
Rob Schumacher, azcentral sports

Quote: “Someone asked me that question of what we’re gonna do – we’re gonna do what it takes to win. And if it’s establishing the run game, and they’ve got eight, nine in the box, we’re gonna go play action over the top. We’re gonna spread them out. So it really depends on what they’re doing. But our philosophy right now is to establish the run game and to be physical up front, and we’re gonna do whatever the defense allows us to do.” — Wilks, on the game plan for the Saints.

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Mark Faller and Greg Moore discuss running backs, quarterbacks and balance in the NFL.
Diana Payan, The Republic | azcentral.com

Injury update: LBs Deone Bucannon (knee) and Josh Bynes (neck) and WR Brice Butler (foot) did not practice. TE Jermaine Gresham (Achilles’) and DE Markus Golden (knee) remain on the physically-unable-to-perform list. 

Up next: The Cardinals are off Thursday as they head to New Orleans for a road game against the Saints on Friday at 5 p.m.

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azcentral sports’ Greg Moore and Katherine Fitzgerald make their final comments as Arizona Cardinals training camp comes to an end.
Rob Schumacher, azcentral sports

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